Innovating Science Communication: the Structure Supporting ATLAS Education & Outreach

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings 273–275 (2016) 1276–1283 www.elsevier.com/locate/nppp

Innovating science communication: the structure supporting ATLAS Education & Outreach

a b c Steven Goldfarb , Claudia Marcelloni , Kate Shaw

On behalf of the ATLAS Experiment

a University of Michigan, 500 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA b University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands B15 2TT, UK c Abdus Salam Int. Cent. Theor. Phys., Strada Costiera, 11, Trieste, Italy

Abstract

The ATLAS Education & Outreach project has, over the years, developed a strong reputation for supporting innovation. Animated event displays, musical CDs, 3d movies, 3-storey murals, photo books, data sonifications, multi-media art installations, pub slams, masterclasses, documentaries, pop-up books, LEGO® models, and virtual visits are among the many diverse methods being exploited to communicate to the world the goals and accomplishments of the ATLAS Experiment at CERN. This variety of creativity and innovation does not pop out of a vacuum. It requires underlying motivation by the collaboration to communicate with the public; freedom and encouragement to do so in a creative manner; and a support structure for developing, implementing and promoting these activities. The ATLAS Outreach project has built this support structure on a well-defined communication plan, high- quality content, and effective delivery platforms. Most importantly, implementation of the program has been based on the effective engagement of the participating institutes and other key partners, not only to leverage modest human resources and funding, but also to take advantage of the rich imagination and inspiration of a diverse, global human collaboration. We present our current plan, on-going activities, and a few more fun innovations for the future.

Keywords: ATLAS, LHC, CERN, Physics, Communication, Outreach, Education, and Innovation

1. Introduction Fig 1 provides a rough illustration of the flow of information through an experiment and on to three Communication is both central and essential to the major target audiences (the science community, the scientific process. The size, scope and worldwide public, and the decision makers who provide support impact of scientific experiments, such as those at the for the experiments). The concepts conveyed by this Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN [1], require figure are not meant to take away from the social and that it go beyond the dissemination of results between ethical obligation of scientists to communicate results peers. Rather, key results need to be clearly to the world at large, but to underscore the pragmatic communicated to non-specialized audiences, need for communication to leverage support for including those providing funding for the projects science, in the form of ideas (from others in the and those most affected by the results (often the science community, such as theorists) and resources general public). (provided by the public via decision makers in governments and other funding agencies). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2015.09.204 2405-6014/Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). S. Goldfarb et al. / Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings 273–275 (2016) 1276–1283 1277

making the added effort to bring people of all levels of education and interest on board. In addition, the ever-increasing usage of social media by both the public and the press mean that content targeting the general public has a much larger exposure, due to the inherent feedback mechanisms of the platforms. The primary communication objective for the general public is to develop an understanding and appreciation of ATLAS, and the field of particle physics, and to convey the necessity of fundamental research for society. There are two key educational messages here: the importance of the scientific process for the development of society, as a whole, Fig 1. Simplified communication flow diagram for a major and the role of ATLAS in this process. Note that this scientific experiment. does not imply depth to the educational aspects of our work, but the fostering of an appreciation that what This document describes the structure developed we are doing is worthwhile and important to society. and employed by the ATLAS [2] Education & The target audience Policy Makers in Science & Outreach Project, including strategy, platforms, Technology includes participants in government content development and activities, designed to foster agencies and industry who help to make decisions effective communication to the Decision Makers and and define policy for their country or organization Public. Interestingly, it does so by employing the concerning support for particle physics and science, more conventional method aimed at communicating in general. This includes heads of states, members of to the Science Community: conference proceedings. parliament or congress, funding agency members, and high-level representatives of a company or industry that supports (or could support) our field. 2. Strategy Here, the primary objective, beyond informing supporters and funding providers with a report of 2.1. Goal accomplishments, is to communicate the impact of our research on society. This reaffirmation of the The primary goal of the ATLAS Education & medium and long-term benefits of the financial Outreach Project [3] is to communicate the goals and investment has the goal of sustaining and increasing accomplishments of the ATLAS physics programme support for ATLAS and particle physics, in general. to the public. These goals are perhaps best Students & Teachers are the most common target summarized in the following broad mission audience addressed by the Education & Outreach statement: ATLAS is a particle physics experiment program. They make up the vast majority of CERN designed to explore the basic building blocks and visitors, and are the primary target of events and fundamental forces of nature in order to advance our activities organized at the member institutes. For the understanding of the world around us. most part, these are students in secondary science classes, aged between 15 and 18. However, there

2.2. Target Audiences & Communication Objectives exist programs that present the key concepts of particle physics to primary school students (typically The ATLAS Education & Outreach project age 8 and above) [4] and some support, generally in defines communication objectives for the following the form of guided visits and presentations, is also primary target audiences: General Public, Policy provided for undergraduate university students [5] Makers in Science & Technology, Students & and high school teachers [6] attending the Teachers. programmes at CERN. By General Public, we are referring to, well, The primary objective for targeting students and everyone. There are arguments for focusing efforts on teachers goes beyond the recruitment and training of the more “science attentive” public: less need for the next generation of scientists and science simplistic explanations, or less need to convince them educators. Efforts are made not only to educate the of the value of our work, for example. However, students, but also to convey the excitement of there are also compelling sociological arguments for discovery and to foster a deeper appreciation of the 1278 S. Goldfarb et al. / Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings 273–275 (2016) 1276–1283

scientific method by witnessing its application first- the fact that around 80-90% of the collaboration hand in leading-edge research. In addition, the actively contributes from their home institutes, often importance and success of worldwide collaboration is far from CERN, participating in the decision-making, an important lesson for students, many of whom have as well the running of the experiment. rarely travelled outside of their home regions or The theme of Technology covers all aspects of the countries. Overall, one clear objective is to instil and experiment, including the development, running and reinforce these values in the students and teachers maintenance of detector components, the trigger and with the hope of influencing the future leadership of computing systems, including the LHC Computing our society. Grid, and the physics analysis environment. The LHC accelerator complex is included to provide context. 2.3. Themes and Messages Although the focus of the program theme remains squarely on the development and usage of leading In order to effectively achieve the communication edge technology to find answers to the major physics objectives described above, the programmes questions, clearly a lot can be shared concerning the developed by the ATLAS Education & Outreach direct application of the technology to other domains project are built on three primary themes: Physics, of human interest. Descriptions of the application of Collaboration, and Technology. innovative technology in fields, such as medicine, The Physics theme focuses on the major questions communication, computing, and other high-tech facing particle physics, today. These are typically industries, help to emphasise the near-term presented in the context of the Standard Model and advantages of supporting fundamental research might employ other models under consideration that without taking away from its long-term goals. go beyond. Questions can include: • What are the basic building blocks of nature? 3. Communication Platforms • What are the forces that describe their interactions? 3.1. Introduction • What the “dark matter” that appears to make up much of the mass of galaxies? The themes and messages described above are • Why does it appear that antimatter has implemented by the ATLAS Education & Outreach disappeared while matter remains? project using a variety of communication platforms, Why is gravity so weak compared to the other • content and activities. The primary platforms include three known forces? an online presence (public web pages and social

• Could there be extra spatial dimensions? media), a local presence (visitor centre), and support

• What was the early universe like in the time for activities hosted by colleagues at or near their before protons and neutrons came into being? home institutes (books, brochures, posters, models, • How do fundamental particles attain mass? multimedia material, etc.). These questions are fundamental and understandable All platforms and content rely on common text, by all of the target audiences, regardless of the level images, and a well-defined visual identity, to convey of education or expertise. By posing them early in the the messages in a clear and coherent manner. Each conversation, audience questions about the project is expected to target at least one of the motivation for our work are laid to rest and a firm specified audiences and deliver key messages in a foundation is built for describing how it is we go manner approved by the collaboration. This section about trying to address the questions. provides brief descriptions of the various platforms This leads to the theme of Collaboration. Here and the audiences they address. the focus is on the common motivation for scientists from all corners of the globe to seek answers to the 3.2. Public Web Pages fundamental questions facing mankind. The primary communication task is to describe the worldwide The ATLAS Public Web site is the primary hub of effort required to construct, run, and maintain the the online platforms. The content is organized into experiment. Emphasis is put on the commonality of three major sections: goals, contrasted with the diversity of nationalities, • Discover: static material describing the and on the advantages of working in such a culturally physics, collaboration, and the technology of rich environment. In addition, it is common to present the ATLAS Experiment; S. Goldfarb et al. / Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings 273–275 (2016) 1276–1283 1279

• Resources: material targeted at the primary specialists and academics [13], albeit with a heavier target audiences, including multimedia, emphasis on announcement over engagement. This is applications, written material, links to primarily due to limited resources and can be activities and games, and instructions for modified. The CERN Social Media guidelines [14] organizing visits; are respected and specific Guidelines for ATLAS are • Updates: dynamic news items, features, currently being drafted. Monitoring and analysis of rd physics briefings, blogs, virtual visit pages, usage statistics is done using local and 3 party tools, ® and any material that is frequently added or such as HootSuite [15], Socialbakers [16], and updated. Google Analytics [17]. The public web pages act as a central home, in that other platforms are often used to direct the public 3.4. ATLAS Visitor Centre here. All material on these pages is meant to be representative of the collaboration and is thus passed The ATLAS Visitor Centre (AVC) [18] is a through a well-established editing and approval museum-type exhibit located in the ATLAS complex procedure. at collision point 1 of the LHC. It features a direct The web pages were recently redesigned and view into the ATLAS control room, through a large ported to the Drupal™ [7] content management glass wall, and contains presentation material for system. They should be online and public at the time guided visits, as well as hands-on material for non- of publication of these proceedings. guided visits. There is also a viewing facility for a ten-minute 3d movie describing the ATLAS 3.3. Social Media experiment. Currently, public visits to the AVC are always Social Media has surpassed nearly all other guided. This is driven by demand (around 50,000 ATLAS platforms in visibility and engagement with visitors in 2013), and by safety and security target audiences. This echoes the results of academic requirements. Experience has also shown that guided research in the field of communication over the past visits are a far more effective means for describing several years, since the development and rapid the experiment and delivering the key communication expansion of the usage of Web 2.0 tools for messages. Not only is the communication enhanced communication on the world stage [8]. Outreach uses by the personal nature of the engagement, but it also social media as an important and effective means to provides the possibility for the guide to listen to the reach a wide, diverse audience, both directly and via concerns of the visitors, and to clarify any potential the media. misunderstandings. Platforms: ATLAS maintains several platforms, Guides: The majority of visits are guided by in order to engage different audiences with a variety official CERN Guides trained and coordinated by the of communication strategies: CERN Visits Service (CERN DG EDU). ATLAS • Twitter: Tweets are sent to announce updates physicists participate as both official CERN guides or on the ATLAS Web Pages, related web pages, as ATLAS-trained guides. and external articles featuring ATLAS, the CERN Protocol coordinates official VIP Visits, LHC, and relevant items on particle physics. with relevant ATLAS members acting as guides. It is also used to retweet CERN items and to VIPs might be invited directly by collaboration engage conversation with target audiences. [9] members due to special circumstances. In these cases, • Facebook: Facebook entries are made for a dedicated member of the Outreach team organizes similar items as Twitter, but using images and the visits. video to attract and retain audiences. It also hosts occasional photo essays on ATLAS- 3.5. Underground Visits related topics. [10] • Google+: Currently Google+ content exactly Underground Visits take place during LHC echoes that of Facebook. Google+ is also shutdowns. They comprise a 45-minute tour 80m used for the hosting of Hangouts. [11] below ground to a viewing platform of the detector. • YouTube: Hosts videos selected from the Along the way visitors view images of the ATLAS collection on CDS. [12] construction of the detector, pass by facilities housing Strategy: Current usage follows typical strategies data acquisition and trigger electronics, as well as developed and employed by science communication services for the detector components. A guide is 1280 S. Goldfarb et al. / Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings 273–275 (2016) 1276–1283

always with the group, wearing a dosimeter to for broadcast and recording. This frees the guides to monitor exposure to residual radiation, following focus on interaction with the audience and to deliver safety protocol, describing the facilities, and the physics messages in a clear and effective manner. answering questions. Underground Visits often begin Guides: Anyone in the collaboration can be a or end by visits to the AVC to complement the virtual visit guide. Depending on the event, guides experience and to provide more opportunity for might be chosen by the participants or event interaction with the group. organizers due to their affiliation with a relevant Dedicated support is provided for the organisation institute or based on language skills. Guides from of underground visits by members of the media, other experiments or other parts of CERN might also including journalists, photographers, and be invited to talk, depending on the occasion. No videographers. National media visits [19], which take formal training is required, although a set of place during long shutdowns of the LHC, require the recommended guidelines is available and shadow identification of appropriate interviewees and guides. visits are also recommended. This is done in coordination with the CERN Press Office. Other special events that can require outreach 3.7. Local Events support include the visits of special interest groups, special student groups, artists, musicians, etc. These Events hosted at CERN or in the surrounding are handled on a case-by-case basis. region are most commonly organised centrally in Guides: Guides receive safety training from coordination with the CERN DG Communications ATLAS and must be certified to serve. Outreach and Outreach groups. Examples are Open Days, provides educational and communication guidelines Researcher Night, Dans le peau d’un chercheur, and and training, on request, as with other visit guides. Anniversary activities. ATLAS Education & Outreach serves to recruit 3.6. Virtual Visits and organise volunteers, define an educational program, prepare material (posters, videos, games, ATLAS Virtual Visits [20] take place in the AVC, etc.), set up logistics, and provide publicity on the using a combination of videoconferencing, webcast public web pages and social media. The activities are and recording equipment installed for this planned with Technical Coordination and Safety, as purpose. The visits are designed to give participants well as with the central CERN organizers. (typically classrooms or public events) a visit experience similar to being at CERN. Guides give 3.8. External Events informal descriptions of the LHC physics program, the accelerator, the detector and the collaboration, Collaboration members frequently host or and then field questions from the visitors. participate in special events designed to engage the The Virtual Visit programme began in 2011 and public at their home institute or another host has grown significantly in the subsequent years. It venue. ATLAS Education & Outreach supports these has reached audiences in classrooms and events on events through the development of material, seven continents (including visits from the IceCube translation of existing material, hosting of Virtual South Pole Neutrino Observatory [22]), targeting an Visits, and publicity on the public web pages and/or audience that is challenged to make the trip to CERN social media platforms. for geographical, economical, or social reasons. ATLAS Education & Outreach runs the virtual 3.9. Masterclasses visit program, communicating with the participants, reserving times for the visits and for preceding tests, Masterclasses [23] target students (typically aged identifying operators and guides, developing the web 15-18, but ranging from elementary school through site, editing and embedding the recorded video, and university) with specialised particle physics events publicizing the events, when public, on social featuring real ATLAS data. They encourage students media. Technical support is provided by IT, as by letting them be physicists for a day and allow an needed. Recordings of previous visits can be seen on excellent opportunity for interaction between the the Virtual Visit home page [21]. students and members of the collaboration. Operators: CERN IT helps to train a number of Physicists from a significant number of ATLAS operators to run the visits, ensuring correct running of Institutes host masterclasses with students at the equipment and compliance with the CERN rules S. Goldfarb et al. / Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings 273–275 (2016) 1276–1283 1281 neighbouring schools or during special events. Most in 2-3 paragraphs, supported by 1-2 images, in a participate in national or international programs, such voice that is as general as possible. as those organised by IPPOG [24], and the classes are Briefings are published on the public web pages in often coupled with Virtual Visits and/or a a similar manner as the news articles, and are also videoconference connection with other participants. advertised via social media. The frequency of ATLAS Education & Outreach participates by publication varies; several will be written during a providing masterclass teachers, organising Virtual major conference, for example, timed to be published Visits, helping to secure data, and with the concurrent to the presentations of new results. development of tools used to analyse the data. Outreach also provides publicity via news articles 4.4. ATLAS Blogs and social media. Finally, through participation in IPPOG working groups, the outreach coordination Short article or story written by a collaboration helps to develop strategy for future development. member about their experiences on ATLAS. It is meant to be written in a personal voice and to describe some aspect of life working on a particle

4. Content Development & Activities physics experiment (hardware, software, analysis, etc.). Some of the original blogs were about taking

4.1. Introduction shifts in the control room. Others have been about physics analysis, detector work during shut down, or Content supporting the platforms described above reflections on the meaning behind recent results or is developed using common themes and messages, by potential discovery. following writing style guidelines, and by reusing The blogs are published on the public web pages, written and visual material, whenever possible. This alongside news and briefings, and are also advertised assures coherence across the platforms and simplifies on the social media. The frequency of publication development and maintenance. A graphic charter, depends on success in the recruitment of writers from including colour scheme, fonts, and logo, is the collaboration. employed to create and maintain a recognisable visual identity for ATLAS. 4.5. Brochures

4.2. News Articles ATLAS brochures are designed to describe the various aspects of the experiment to the The ATLAS Education & Outreach Team reports public. Current brochures are: General Experiment, periodically on the goals and accomplishments of the Physics, Detector, Software & Computing, and Direct experiment. Content includes: Applications. • Reports on recent activities, such as new Brochures are present in the ATLAS Visitor physics results, conference presentations, Centre, at events hosted at CERN or at member technological advancements, human institutes, and are available for download on the achievements, etc. public web pages in a variety of languages. • Features on major milestones, key physics topics, summaries of accomplishments, 4.6. Multimedia expectations for new exploration, etc. The news articles are published in a dedicated Multimedia material is developed for a variety of section on the public web pages, then publicised on uses and platforms, including the public web pages, social media, at a roughly weekly frequency. social media and visitor centre. It is also developed at the request of collaboration members for usage in 4.3. Physics Briefings public talks and events, local and remote events. The material is designed in cooperation with an expert Physics briefings are periodic write-ups from the collaboration, with the help of CERN summarizing recent physics results (publications or services or other professionals. Multimedia material conference presentations). The topic choice is includes: Photos, Videos, Animations, Event typically proposed by a physics convener, physics Displays, Plots, and Mixed Media. coordinator, member of management or outreach coordinator. The idea is to summarize the publication 1282 S. Goldfarb et al. / Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings 273–275 (2016) 1276–1283

The material is made to be general enough to serve development and maintenance of the platforms, the collaboration on multiple platforms and employs content and activities described above: Written the graphic charter as described above. Content, Multimedia, Public Web Pages, Social Media, and Visits. 4.7. Merchandise Conveners of the various groups, as well as most of the participants, are members of the collaboration. ATLAS Education & Outreach develops and Most typically contribute between 10-20% of their maintains a variety of merchandise (books, clothing, time, as a service contribution to the collaboration. 3d event viewers, pens, cards, etc.) to disseminate Service credits can be awarded for operators and information about the experiment either on its own or convenors, as a means to reward institutes for their in support of public events. The material is typically contributions to the core work. conceived by Outreach and designed in partnership with a professional designer. On occasion, 5.4. Communication Expertise collaboration members might propose designs, perhaps as part of a competition, but the final look ATLAS Education & Outreach profits from the must comply with the ATLAS graphic charter before participation of experts in writing and communication implementation. in the core team. Access to such expertise is essential for the development of strategy and implementation of a communication plan. Other expertise required by

5. Organisation the project includes event management, exhibition design, and multimedia development. Limited 5.1. Introduction resources require finding an appropriate balance of in house talent and external partnerships. The complete ATLAS Education & Outreach team includes all 3000 members of the collaboration, many 5.5. Speakers Committee of whom contribute actively by hosting local exhibitions, events or public talks, giving interviews As with every major project on the experiment, to local media, translating public documents, acting there is an ATLAS Outreach Speakers’ Committee. as guides for visits or virtual visits, writing blogs, and The role of the committee is to solicit opportunities engaging the public by sharing their enthusiasm for for official talks, announce the talks to the science and the physics of the LHC. The core team collaboration, develop authorship policy, select described below is primarily engaged in developing speakers, and review material (like these platforms, content and strategy to facilitate these proceedings) presented on behalf of the collaboration. activities.

5.2. Coordination 6. Summary

There are two ATLAS Education & Outreach The ATLAS Education & Outreach project has Coordinators, each elected to a two-year term by the developed a firm, structured basis, which has allowed Collaboration Board in a similar manner to other it to implement a significant number of highly visible Coordinators serving the collaboration (e.g. Physics, and successful outreach activities. This basis is a Computing, Trigger, etc.). Re-election requires a 2/3 communication strategy that defines clear goals, vote. The terms "leap frog" each other, providing an target audiences, and messages that resonate with overlap of one year, to ensure continuity of the those audiences, through the development of themes programme. describing the goals and accomplishments of the experiment. 5.3. Groups The project organisation is designed to solicit, increase, and complement the active participation of The ATLAS Education & Outreach Project is its collaboration members by providing the organised in groups, each of which is led by a communication platforms and material needed to convener who is responsible for the group’s activities support their efforts. and for coordinating with other groups and partners. The past few years have seen a remarkable surge The current group organisation is designed to cover in the size and scope of audiences turning their S. Goldfarb et al. / Nuclear and Particle Physics Proceedings 273–275 (2016) 1276–1283 1283 attention to the activities of our field. Efforts in the [17] Google Analytics: http://www.google.com/analytics. coming years will focus on using the structure and [18] ATLAS Visitor Centre: http://www.atlas.ch/atlas_tour. [19] CERN National Media Visits: http://press.web.cern.ch/press- tools that are in place to continue to expand and visits-over-long-shutdown-lhc. educate this audience, communicating the importance [20] ATLAS Virtual Visits: Bringing the World into the ATLAS of fundamental research, and recruiting the scientists Control Room, S. Goldfarb, Itnl. Conference on Computing in and science supporters of tomorrow. High Energy and Nuclear Physics, May 2012, New York, NY, USA. [21] ATLAS Virtual Visits: http://cern.ch/atlas-virtual-visits. [22] IceCube Neutrino Observatory: http://icecube.wisc.edu. Acknowledgments [23] ATLAS International Masterclasses: http://atlas.physicsmasterclasses.org/en/index.htm.

We would like to acknowledge our partners in the [24] IPPOG is the International Particle Physics Outreach Group: http://ippog.web.cern.ch. CERN DG Communication and Education groups, as well as our colleagues in the LHC Outreach Group and the International Particle Physics Outreach Group, for their cooperation, support, and innovative contributions to the fields of education and outreach in particle physics. We also thank our institutes: the University of Michigan, the University of Birmingham, and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics for supporting our research.

References

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